Get Your Freak On: new release explores Brit psych rock underground

I’m A Freak, Baby is a 3CD box set (29th July) from Cherry Red that explores the British heavy rock and psych rock explosion of 1968-72.

Following the success of Cream and Jimi Hendrix, a new wave of British artists grew their hair long and turned up their amps, creating a sound that was harder, heavier, leaner and louder.

From the press release:

“(IAFB) incorporates everything from some of the biggest names in the burgeoning hard rock/proto-metal firmament (Deep Purple, Uriah Heep) all the way down to a significant number of provincial semi-pro bands who gigged extensively but were unable to land a recording contract during their lifetime.

We feature some of British rock’s pioneering acts (The Yardbirds, The Move), a handful of bands who travelled far beyond their blues boom roots (Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, The Groundhogs), the infamous Ladbroke (The Deviants, The Pink Fairies, Hawkwind, The Edgar Broughton Band), a smattering of inspired, where-the-hell-did-that-come-from one-shots like The Velvet Frogs and the mighty Egor, and a clutch of previously-unreleased recordings (The Kult, Hellmet, The Phoenix) that have even eluded the speicalist reissue companies and bootleggers.”